Method of making printing rollers



June 2,1936. s F DAMM 2,043,154

METHOD OF MAKING PRINTING ROLLERS Filed March 20, 1955 3 35 ven0;

5A MUE L. F. DAM M Patented June 2, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT i OFFICE METHOD OF MAKING PRINTING ROLLERS Samuel F. Damm, Niagara Falls, N. Y. y Application March 20, 1335, Serial No. 11,990

3 Claims. (Cl. 101-401.1)

My invention relates in general to a method of making printing rollers and more particularly to such a method as applied to the manufacture of wall paper printing rollers.

'5 f 1 It is well known to those skilled in the art that it has been proposed to use metal for wall paper printing rollers in the surface of which are routed thevarious designs of the roller. Such rollers are not only heavy to handle but they are costly because of the labor required in routing out the portions of the rollers between the designs so as to get the proper clearance.

'Ihe principal object of my invention has been to provide a method whereby rollers may be inexpensivelyand economically made. 'Io this end my invention contemplates the use of relatively soft material inthe form of a cylinder, thesurface of which has a radius substantially the same as the printing radius of the finished roller from which the individual printing designs are cut in most economical manner. These individual designs are then afterwards set into a roller having a corrugated exterior surfaceto which they are secured by suitable means.

V In the accompanying drawing I have shown, as an illustration of my method, a roller made up in accordance therewith.

"Obviously, while I show in the drawing the material from which the designs are cut in the form of a hollow sleeve, it is evident that the material may be in the form of a curved sheet or that it may be flat and the designs bent in the form of a curve after having been finished and cut therefrom.

` In the drawing:

`Fig.'1 is a perspective View of the supplyroller or sheet of material from which the 'individual designs are cut, showing some of thedesigns routed out and others marked ready'forV routing.

Fig. 2'is a perspective View of one of the 1inished individual designs.

` Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, side elevation of one end of the roller showing one step in my process.

. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of another portion of the same roller showing the finished product.

Fig. 5 is an end. sectional elevation taken on line 5-5 of Fig. Sand shows in elevation the completed portion of the roller shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary,`plan view showing another step in the process.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a* modified form of individual design.

Fig. 8 is a transverse, sectional view of a roller showing the design of Fig. 7 secured in place.

Adividual design isa flange I8. The flanges I8, as

. may be severed by any other suitable means.

Fig. 9 is a longitudinal, sectional elevation of the form of invention shown in'Fig. 8.

Reference is now tobe had to the drawing and particularly to the form of invention shown in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive. In carrying out myv invention, I provide the material from which to cut the individual design preferably in the form of a supply cylinder I5 on the periphery of which I arrange the series of individual designs l I6 in the most economical way and in such manner 10 that there shall be the least possible waste of material, as shown `in Fig. 1. The outer diameter of the supply cylinder is preferably thesame as the diameter of the printing' surface of the roller. The outlines of these designs are marked 15 on the supply cylinder as Vthey are arranged, 'after f which the cylinder is placed in a suitable routing machine (not shown) and the design routed out, as shown on part of the cylinder in Fig. 1'. EX- tending from the printing surface II of each inshown in broken lines in Fig. 1, are formed as the printing surfaces l1 are being routed out and the upper surface of each, therefore, lies considerably below the printing surface II so vas 25 to provide sufcient clearance. The flange I8 is left sufficiently thick so as to be rigid enoughto provide means for securing the design in place, to be later described. After the printing surface II is provided and the flange is routed to the desired thickness, the designs are severed fromY the sheet material by being cut around the flanges I8. Obviously this may be done either by routing through the material with theV routing tool or Each of the individual designs, when'iinished,A

assumes a form similar to that shown in Fig-.2.Y

The next step in carryingout my invention `is` the provision of a printing roller 20 shown infragL mentary manner in Figs. 3, 4, and 5. The body2 I of this roller is preferably made of sheet metal relatively thin and suitably reinforced on the inside by means of corrugated sleeves 22 and 23. Heads 24 (only one of which'is shown) are each provided with a' suitable central opening 2,5 for 45 the reception of the usual driving shaft 21 and/or conical centeringbushing (not shown) customary in printing rollers of this kind. Around the outside of this roller body`2I is placed an outer corrugated sleeve 26, the height of which is prefer-4 50 ably not great enough to extend up to the level of theprinting surface of the roller which is coincident with the surface I'I of the individual design when it is in position.

The outer corrugated surface of the drum is 55 now preferably coated with some material upon which marks may be made, as for instance, white paint.

Upon this outer painted surface of the drum I now arrange the designs and I mark on the upper crests of the corrugations the contour of the design, as shown by the marks in Fig. 3. Where the design of any particular roller is to be registered with a design on another roller, as in multiple color work it is, of course, quite necessary that the two designs come in registering positions. 'Ihis may be done by careful laying out of the designs on the drum, or a drawing may be pre-.

pared upon which the designs are shown. This drawing may then be laid upon the corrugated outer surface of the sleeve and the outline of the design marked by using some suitable transfer material as, for instance, carbon paper. Even though the outer diameter of the corrugated sleeve is somewhat less than the diameter of the printing surface of the roller, if the designs are laid out symmetrically upon the drawing and the drawing is used on the outside diameter of the corrugations, the printing designs when in place will also be symmetrically arranged. It is, of

course, obvious that the outline marking for the designs is governed by the fiange I8 and not by the pattern of the design itself.

After the designs have been marked upon the outer corrugated surface of the drum, as just above described, the drum is placed in a suitable routing machine (not shown) and the tops of the corrugations over the surface bounded by the marks or lines 30 are routed out to a depth that will bring the printing surface I'I in registration with the printing diameter of the roller (as shown in Fig. 6). The thickness of the supply material is preferably such, in relation to the height of the corrugations and -the diameter of the roller body 2|, that the flange I8 will be let into thev corrugations, as shown in Fig. 6, suicient to provide a number of retaining detents or walls 3|.

VAfter the corrugations have been routed out, as above described, the individual printing designs, as shown in Fig. 2, are setinto the recesses and are secured therein preferably by means of soldering or welding. After the printing designs are secured in place, the outer corrugated sleeve 26 is Vrouted away leaving a relatively narrow flange 32 all around the flange I8 of the printing design. During the course of routing, this ange 32 is secured to the body 2 I of the roller by means of soldering or otherwise so that its position will not be shifted during the routing-out process.

v After it is entirely routed out it is firmly secured in place in any suitable manner. The portions of. the corrugated shell 26 lying between designs may then be quickly and conveniently removed from the roller body, as shown in Fig. 4.

When the printing surface I'I of the design is relatively large or when it is desired to use felt as aportion of such surface, the design is formed with a central opening cut preferably through the material by routing, as shown in Fig. 7. A narrow band of printing surface 36 is left all around the opening 35 and between it and the outer boundary of thel printing surface. A flange I8 is also provided in this form as in the form of Fig. 2. These routed-out designs, like those of the form of Fig. 2, may be prepared from supplyv material which is in the form of the roller I5 and they may be fitted into recesses formed in the corrugated outer surface of the roller in a manner like the design shown in Fig. 2, above described. The felt insert 31, shown in Figs. 8 and 9, is cut to t the inner opening 35 of the printing design. The printing design may be put 5 in place within the recess formed in the corrugations and secured thereto, if desired, before the felt is put into the opening 35. In this manner of assembling, cement 39 is placed in the bottom of the corrugations and through the openings l0 38 form'ed by cutting oif the tops of the corrugations. This cement will thus flow into the openings and spread out underneath the flanges I8 of the printing design, as shown in Fig. 9 and thereby be anchored in place. When the felt 15 insert 3'! is now placed in the opening 35 and pressed down into place, it will adhere to the cement 39, thus securing the same in position.

From the foregoing it will be clear that printing rollers made in accordance with my method are 20 to treat the new sleeve in the same manner as 30:

above described for producing a roller having the new design.

While I have shown in the drawing a specific type of supply roller and a specific form of design pattern, it is obvious that the supply roller 35 may be in any other desired form, either a curved sheet or a flat sheet which is bent to form after being cut from the sheet. The design, of course, may be varied as desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A method of making printing rollers, comprising cutting individual designs from a supply sheet, preparing a roller having an outer corrugated sleeve, marking upon the corrugations the contour of the individual designs, routing the corrugations to the depth required to bring the printing surface of the design pattern coincident with the printing circumference of the roller, and placing and securing the designs in the recesses. 5

2. A method of making printing rollers, comprising cutting individual designs from a supply sheet, preparing a roller having an outer corrugated sleeve, marking upon the corrugations the contour of the individual designs, routing the corrugations to the depth required to bring the printing surface of the designs coincident with the printing circumference of the roller, placing and securing the designs in the recesses, routing around the designs leaving a portion of the corrugated shell surrounding the designs, and then removing the portions of the corrugated sleeve lying between the designs.

3. A method of making printing rollers, comprising cutting individual designs from a cylindrical supply sheet having a radius substantially the same as the radius of the printing surface of the roller, preparing a roller having an outer, longitudinally corrugated, sheet metal sleeve, and permanently securing such designs to the corrugated sleeve.

SAMUEL F. DANIM. 

